Catching Bait with a Sabiki Rig

If you like live bait fishing, few tools are as valuable as a Sabiki rig. These little multi-lure rigs will get snapped up by virtually all different species of potential bait and can help you fill the livewell in a flash. If, that is, you know how to use them.

The most important thing you need to know about using a Sabiki has nothing to do with the rig itself, and everything to do with the blue de-hooker you see in this angler’s hand. Make sure you get one of these – Sabikis are notorious for getting stuck in hands, clothing, seat cushions, and everything else, when you’re trying to get a fish off of one hook and three or four others are swinging around wildly. Using a de-hooker, which allows you to control the entire rig while shaking a bait off the hook, will make your life a lot easier.

Beyond that, using a Sabiki is pretty darn straightforward. Simply locate an area where there’s bait, flip out the rig, and allow it to sink. It usually gets hit quickly when it reaches the depth the baitfish are at, and you’ll feel a bump on the line. At this point, give a few broad, sweeping jigs with your rod. The idea here isn’t to reel the rig in the moment you have a bait on the hook, but to load up most or all the hooks at once, while the rig is in the target zone. After a few jigs, crank it in and use your de-hooker to shake the baits off into the livewell.

Added bonus: Sabikis are also shockingly effective on many panfish species. Snappers, sand trout, croakers, and just about any other relatively small predator found in inshore and bay waters will latch onto a Sabiki jigged along the bottom. So whether you plan on live baiting for Gulf kings or just putting a few croaker in the bucket, give Sabikis a shot – you might be amazed at how good the results are.